David Davis: UK will leave EU with no deal if MPs vote down Withdrawal Bill

David Davis: UK will leave EU with no deal if MPs vote down Withdrawal Bill

Britain will leave the EU without an agreement if MPs vote down proposed legislation which seeks to implement any deal, according to David Davis.

The Brexit Secretary was accused of trying to "buy off" Tory rebels by announcing a "worthless" Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, which would be brought forward if a deal is agreed with the EU.

Mr Davis said the Government had recognised the need to take further steps to provide "clarity and certainty" regarding the implementation of an agreement into UK law.

MPs heard the Bill, if approved, would ensure major policy of the Brexit agreement is implemented via primary legislation.

Speaking in the Commons, Conservative former minister Owen Paterson asked: "If the House of Commons votes down the new withdrawal bill, will the consequence be we still leave on March 29 2019, but without an agreement?"

Mr Davis replied: "Yes."

Tory former minister Anna Soubry added the new piece of legislation will only apply if there is an agreement.

She asked Mr Davis: "Can you confirm in the event of no agreement - no deal - this place will have no say, and we will leave on that date, because it's on the face of the Bill, without any say from this supposedly sovereign Parliament which voted to take back control?"

Mr Davis replied: "If we don't have a withdrawal agreement we can't have a withdrawal agreement bill, full stop."

Labour former minister Chris Leslie added: "Hasn't (Mr Davis) just given the game away of what a sham offer this is?

"Totally worthless to Parliament, essentially trying to buy off people by saying: 'Oh look, we're going to give you an act to shape things', when in fact this is a post hoc, after-the-horse-has-bolted piece of legislation.

"We might have left the European Union, the treaty and the deal would have been done and Parliament could do nothing at all to shape the nature of that withdrawal agreement.

"(Mr Davis) has to do much better than this. Parliament must have a say on that withdrawal agreement before we are thrown over the cliff edge."

Mr Davis said the probable sequence of events would see the withdrawal agreement concluded in the "latter part of next year", with the EU aiming for October.

He went on: "If we do that, then the withdrawal and treaty vote will come to the House, the simple in principle vote, then as soon as possible thereafter the withdrawal agreement bill will come in front of the House.

"That's the sequence and that will leave plenty of time and amended at the time."

Hilary Benn, Labour chairman of the Exiting the European Union Committee, said Mr Davis's announcement was "another recognition of the Government having to listen" to MPs.

Dominic Grieve, the Tory former attorney general who has tabled a series of amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill, said the controversial clause nine in that Bill was now redundant.

He added: "I don't see how it's acceptable that we should implement Brexit by means of clause nine to have a statute after the date of our departure.

"And my anxieties have greatly heightened on this by the extraordinary amendment tabled by the Government on Friday.

"Surely the answer is that if we run out of time - it's none of these suggestions that have now been put forward - is that the time has to be extended under Article 50 so that all parties are able to deal with it.

"That's the mechanism that's provided and surely that's the mechanism which the House and the Government should be following?"

Mr Davis said in reply that the weakness of extending time under Article 50 was that it had to be agreed unanimously.

Tory MP Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) asked Mr Davis how any vote would be meaningful if a deal was only struck on the last day of negotiations.

Mr Davis, reiterating comments made previously by ministers, said: "A meaningful vote is a vote which allows you to say you want the deal or you don't want the deal, and that won't be any different."

Responding to the statement in the House of Lords, former civil service chief and independent crossbencher Lord Butler of Brockwell said the offer of a financial settlement already made by the Prime Minister to the EU was "a generous one".

He added: "Will the minister confirm that any such settlement will be paid over a number of years and not as a capital sum and must be contingent on satisfactory progress on other aspects of our future relationship?"

Brexit minister Lord Callanan said the issues would be addressed as part of the negotiation.

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